Vandals in Santa Cruz Flood State, City Offices

In a series of malicious crimes that have baffled the activist community of Santa Cruz, vandals striking at night and on weekends have used garden hoses to flood the offices of city and state agencies.

The spree, which began June 4, has hit six offices, including the city manager, city attorney, public defenders and state parks officials, along with a local insurance company. Authorities say total damage could exceed $500,000.

The vandals have connected their own hoses to outdoor water spigots and threaded them through broken windows or mail slots. They then turned on the water full force, creating a current of destruction that damaged carpets and ruined files and furniture. Often the resulting floods are not discovered until hours--or days--afterward.

Frustrated officials liken the attacks to the unleashing of a costly computer virus that causes both financial damage and inconvenience.

“This is the most mean-spirited, small-minded form of vandalism I’ve ever seen,” said Jerry Christensen, whose law firm contracts with Santa Cruz County to represent indigent defendants.

Christensen’s offices were the latest to be hit, a day before Father’s Day. He said the vandals had broken a window and inserted a garden hose into the office.

The vandals also broke the handle from the outdoor water spigot; Christensen needed pliers to turn the water off. “To break off the handle was just an additional little bit of malice, one more ‘ha-ha-ha,’ ” he said. “And we’re also stuck with the water bill.”

Hundreds of case files were drenched and officials for days aired out sopping folders by laying them on cars in the parking lot.

The attacks have become the talk of this coastal town, which is no stranger to acts of political sabotage. Last year, protesters damaged a new Barnes & Noble bookstore, and Gap clothing stores also have been vandalized by groups that disagree with the companies’ corporate strategies.

Yet so far, no one has taken responsibility for the floodings, which police say have hit a disparate group of targets. Authorities have not ruled out the spree as the work of teenagers.

“I’d like to think it was kids,” Christensen said. “Everyone can forgive kids. But this could be the work of a very disturbed person.”

City Manager Richard Wilson, whose offices also were hit, said victims are posting a reward to capture the culprits.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve been vandalized,” he said. “The last time, they flooded the toilets and tried to start a fire. Nobody was ever arrested. So maybe the people have come back.”

Authorities said the attacks have inspired some good neighborliness among city officials--local prosecutors have offered to share files with public defenders who lost paperwork to the floods.